UOT 73

Telman Ibrahimov
Phd (Art Study), Associate Professor
Institute of Architecture and Art of ANAS
(Azerbaijan)
artmen4@yandex.ru

ORIGINS AND SYMBOLISM OF HORSE SHAPED TOMBSTONES

IN AZERBAN

Abstract
The appearance of tombstones in the form of a horse in Azerbaijan in the Middle
Ages is not an accidental, local or short-term phenomenon. These tombstones appeared
when the religion of Islam have been preached for a while and had an uncompromising
struggle against idolatry. The fact of their appearance in this era testifies to the vitality of
the ancient pagan symbolism of the horse in the worldview of the Azerbaijanis.
The long-term formation of the symbolism of the horse was facilitated by the fact
that the horse always gave its owner food, clothing, strength, wealth, an advantage in
speed and overcoming long distances. The horse saved lives, personified the valor of a
warrior, the courage and luck of a hunter, was an attribute of power and being chosen.
The cultivation of the symbol of the horse among the Azerbaijanis continued after
the adoption of the religion of Islam. This ancient cult led to the widespread use of
tombstones in the form of a horse.
The simultaneous appearance of such tombstones among many Turkic people
suggests that the cult of the horse and its symbolism were universal for all nomadic and
semi-nomadic Turkic tribes of the Eurasian continent.
Keywords: Tombstone, Stone horse, Azerbaijan, Kurgan, Azerbaijani folklore, Mystical
carrier of the soul.

Introduction
The earliest images of wild and later domesticated horses in Azerbaijan were
found among the petroglyphs of Gobustan and dated to the Eneolithic and Early Bronze
Ages (5th-3rd millennium BC). In these petroglyphs, a special cultivation and
mystification of the image of a horse cannot be observed yet. In the petroglyphs of
Gobustan, the horse is just an important attribute of hunters (1.99, 105.125).
 Early evidence of the cultivation of the horse symbol appears in the Iron Age (1st
millennium BC) and is associated with the fact that at that time the horse turns into an
important attribute of a warrior - protecting, bringing victory, power, wealth and freedom.
Early ritual burials (Kurgan) of the horse together with the deceased owner in barrows
date back to this time. According to Herodotus, who reported this, the meaning of the
burial of the horse was that the horse served the buried hero in the afterlife, and to safely
reach its distant destination” (2.189).
Military-political contacts and the permanent settlement of the Scythian tribes in
the South Caucasus led to an even greater spread of the cult of the horse in this region.
The horse becomes an indispensable attribute of a warrior, and his images are constantly
present on the golden objects of the grave inventory.
Further cultivation of the horse and its transformation into an important symbol of
religious and ideological beliefs is also observed in the ancient era. The deification of
natural principles and elements, the mythologization of the most important processes and
phenomena of the life of nature and society were expressed through various zoomorphic
symbols. One of them was the symbol of a horse, personifying the element of rain. In the
Avesta, the deity of rain - Tishtriya is described as a white horse, bringing necessary
hydration and rain to the earth. Sculptural images of a horse appear on cult sacrificial
vessels. The presence of numerous aquamaniles in the form of a horse in the grave
inventory of this time also testifies to the significance and role of the horse symbol in the
religion and ideology of this era. Aquamaniles from a protome horse were used in rituals
for making rain and sacrifices (3.). During the burial, these aquamaniles were placed in
the grave, next to the buried.
The cult of the horse, widespread among the Scythians, Huns, and later among the
Khazars and Oghuz Turks, continued to spread in the early Middle Ages. The important
role of the horse in life was not limited only to the needs for military mobility, which was
provided by the horses of mounted warriors. Animal husbandry was the main type of
economy that provided food for the local tribes. The natural, climatic and geographical
features of the South Caucasus region led to the emergence of distant pastures here, in
which, with the onset of summer and the drying of grasses in the lowlands, herds of
animals were driven away to high mountain pastures. With the onset of autumn, the herds
wandered back to their winter camps. All this difficult work of grazing large herds of
animals, the shepherds could not do without the help of fast horses. Thus, along with the
military function, the horse was an important element in the economic life of the nomads.
The role of the horse in military and economic life was further enhanced in the
Middle Ages. At that time, the horse turns into a male symbol of freedom, heroism and
high social and property status. It was these factors that predetermined the appearance of
numerous tombstones in the form of stone statues of horses in the territories inhabited by
Azerbaijani Turks. The stone horse, forever standing on the grave, symbolized heroism,
prowess, social and property status of its owner, who had gone to another world. The
"petrified" horse was always waiting for its owner and symbolized his presence nearby
and his return.
Symbolism of the horse covered many ethno-cultural and religious-ideological
narratives, among which the symbolic images glorified in myths and folk epics were of
great importance. One of the important folk narratives that postulate the special role and
significance of the horse in the acquisition of heroic qualities by its owner is the ancient
Azerbaijani epic "Koroglu" ("Son of the Blind"). In the epic, the protagonist's favorite
fast horse (qyr-at/black horse) helps to show military prowess and courage, saves him
from enemies, instantly reunites him with his beloved, warns of danger, etc. The mystical
genealogy of the horse "Gyr-at" in the epic - "explains" the magical ability of the horse to
deliver its owner to the desired and hard-to-reach goal in the blink of an eye: “In search
of his stray mare, the father of the protagonist of the poem, named Aly, finds her grazing
alone on a moonlit forest lawn late at night. Suddenly, a bright ray of light falls from the
sky onto the lawn, along with which a heavenly winged horse descends onto the lawn,
which immediately copulates with a grazing mare. Bewitched by what he saw, Aly
remembers this mare and by taking her to the herd, begins to follow her. After the allotted
time, the mare gives birth to two stallions, black and white. Dying, Aly punishes his son
Rovshan (in the epic, Rovshan acquires the name “Koroglu” - “Son of the Blind”), before
teaching the stallions to ride, keep them for 40 days in a dark closed stall so that sunlight
does not fall on them. If he does what he says, then the stallions will grow invisible
magic wings that will make them the fastest horses. Rovshan waited 39 days, could not
stand it, and opening the gate went into the stall to see the horses. At this time, a ray of
sunshine fell on a white stallion, who immediately lost his magic wings. The black
stallion (qyr-at), having stood for another day in a dark stall, retained its magical invisible
wings and became the fastest horse, about which it was said that he did not run, but
“flyed” (5. 49-58).
Thus, in the medieval folk epic, the horse is designated as a mystical vehicle that
quickly delivers a person to his destination/dream. The ability of a horse to carry a
person through space and time is also extrapolated to a mystical transition after death to
another/afterlife.
Perhaps the formation of such an image of a mystical carrier horse was also
facilitated by the Qur'anic story about the Magical night transfer of the Prophet
Muhammad through the heavenly spheres (Miraj) to the abode of Allah. Along the way,
the prophet visits both heavenly Paradise and Hell. The image of a magical horse
(Burak), which transferred the Prophet Muhammad to the heavenly and afterlife, was
extrapolated to the image of an ordinary earthly horse, which symbolically transfers the
soul of its deceased owner to Paradise (5. 232-241).
In medieval cemeteries, along with tombstones in the form of a horse, with
identical semantics, a large number of tombstones in the form of a ram were found. The
formation of the symbolism of the “mystical carrier” in the form of a ram was facilitated
by common Turkic folklore plots, among which the Azerbaijani “Tale of Malik-Mamed”
stands out. The hero of the tale, the young prince Malik-Mamed, in search of a div who
stole the apples of youth from his father's garden, descended into the underworld. The
older brothers who remained at the top cut the rope and left the younger brother in the
underworld. In order to ascend to this / bright world, Malik-Mamed had to contrive there
and jump on a white ram. But the white ram contrived and threw him onto the back of a
black ram, which took Malik-Mamed even deeper into the other world.
Thus, the fairy tale postulates the transfer of a person by a mystical ram from the
world of the living to the world of the dead and vice versa. This folk tale clarifies the
semantics of gravestone rams on graves. The ram, on which the life of a nomad
depended, was also perceived as a symbol of life, including life after resurrection in the
afterlife.
The formation of the cult of the horse, and the spread of its monuments on the
graves, was facilitated not only by the factor of the high speed of movement of the horse.
At the same time, the horse was an attribute of the property status of its owner. The horse
was a very expensive animal, and the presence of its monument on the grave was
unambiguously perceived as a sign of the material security of the buried person's social
exclusivity. In Azerbaijani folklore, the expression has still been preserved: if they want
to say about someone that he is low-born, a commoner, they say that he is not on
horseback, but on foot (piyada).
All these factors influenced the formation of the tradition of installing horse stone
monuments on medieval graves. Such monuments were found in large numbers in such
regions of Azerbaijan as Karabakh (Kelbajar, Lachin, Goranboy, Barda), in Shirvan,
Nakhchivan, Mughan, Shamkir, Tovuz, as well as in the regions of compact residence of
Azerbaijanis on the territory of modern Georgia (Dmanisi, Marneuli, Bolnisi , Qardabani)
and Armenia (Sisian).
Each of these regions has its own stylistic features of grave monuments in the
form of a horse. With all the stylistic diversity, two main types of horse images can be
distinguished: The first and earliest type depicts a horse with separately doubled front and
hind legs. Such a stylistic decision led to the fact that over time, the legs of most of these
monuments were broken off. The second type depicts a horse whose legs are only slightly
traced on a solid block of stone. The fore and hind legs of such monuments are not
distinguished from the general silhouette of the horse's figure. Monuments in which the
legs are not separated from the general stone mass of the tombstone are better preserved.
The vast majority of gravestone monuments of a horse depict saddled horses
waiting for their owner. In such tombstones, a luxurious horse saddle, rich harness and
horse decorations testify to the high social status of the buried.
On grave monuments in the form of a horse, the names of the buried, the date of
his death, Koranic texts, excerpts from the classics of Eastern poetry and various epitaphs
were written in Arabic script. An example is the inscriptions from the grave monument in
the form of a horse from the collection of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art: “The
owner of the grave is Babur, the son of Orkhan. Treasure of the heart of Sadi Agha…”
(6.71).
On some grave monuments in the form of a horse there are images of a tribal
tamgha, indicating the ethnic origin of the buried. Such a monument was found in the
territory of compact residence of Azerbaijanis in Georgia and is kept in the Mtskheta
branch of the Lapidary of the State Museum of Georgia. On one side of the stone figure
of the grave horse, a warrior is depicted, on the other, a saber hanging from the saddle is
depicted. On the horse's croup there is a tamgha of the Turkic clan Alayundlu, who
participated in the ethnogenesis of the modern Azerbaijani nation(8.). There is an
inscription on the neck of the horse: “The owner of the grave is Karam Khan. 741/1341
(9.16).

CONCLUSION
1.The symbolism of the stone horse on the grave monuments goes back to
primitive and ancient religious and ideological beliefs, according to which the white
horse brought rain, moisture and increased vitality. The appearance of burials of the horse
together with the owner in the burial mounds of the Iron Age speaks of the important role
of the horse in this and the afterlife of the hero.
2. In the ancient period, the iconic symbol of the horse was still associated with
vital energy. Cult vessels (aquamanile) in the form of a horse were used for sacrificial
libations on the ground in the rite of causing rain.
3. In the medieval era, to the previous attributes of the horse symbol, a narrative is
added about an indicator of the social and material status of the person buried in the
grave.
4. The new semantics of the mystical horse also appears in the new religion -
Islam. The magical horse of the Prophet Muhammad in the "Night Ascension" (Miraj)
takes him from the physical world to heavenly paradise and hell, and also delivers him to
the abode of Allah.
5. In myths, fairy tales and legends, the horse symbol acquires the mystical
discourse of a magical carrier that “delivers” the deceased to the other world and
continues to serve him in the afterlife. A symbolic image of the winged soul of the buried
(man-headed bird) riding a horse to the afterlife (paradise) is on a tombstone of the 16th
century from the Zangezur village of Urud (the territory of modern Armenia) (9.21).

References
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2. Georges Dumezil. Romans de Scythie et D’Alentour. “Payot”, Paris 1978
3. Telman Ibrahimov. 1399-cu il Əmir Teymur sifarişi ilə təbrizli ustad Əbd əl-Əziz ibn Sərvər
əl-din tərəfindən hazırlanan bürünc tiyan. Academia. Edu
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%C9%99_t%C9%99brizli_ustad_%C6%8Fbd_%C9%99l_%C6%8Fziz_ibn_S%C9%99rv
%C9%99r_
4. Köroğlu. “Lider Nəşriyyat” Bakı 2005
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6. Неймат М.С. Корпус эпиграфических памятников Азербайджана. «Элм», Баку, 1991
7. Нейматова М.С. Мемориальные памятники Азербайджана (XII – XIX века),»Элм», Баку
1981
8. Telman Ibrahimov. Traces of the Oghuz Tribe Ulaundlug/Ala Yundlu(Ala atly – with pinto
horses) IN Azerbaijan.
https://www.academia.edu/41442355/
TRACES_OF_THE_OGHUZ_TRIBE_ULAYUNDLUG_AlA_YUNDLU_Ala_Atly_With_pint
o_horses_IN_AZERBAIJAN
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1981
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Telman Ibrahimov (Azərbaycan)

AZƏRBAYCANDA AT ŞƏKİLLİ MƏZAR DAŞLARININ MƏNŞƏYİ VƏ
SİMVOLİZMİ
Məqalə Orta əsrlərdə Azərbaycan ərazisində geniş yayılmış at şəkilli məzar
daşlarının mənşəyi və simvolizminə həsr olunmuşdur. Ən erkən belə məzar daşları XV ə.
aiddirlər, lakin onların simvolizminin mənşəyi daha erkən dövrlərə təsadüf edir. Bu
qədim simvolizmin ən erkən nümunələri dəmir dövrünün kurqan dəfnlərində meydana
gəlmişdir. Bəzi o dövrün kurqanlarında at skeletləri aşkar olunmuşlar. Qədim inama
əsasən, həmin kurqanlarda at sahibi ilə birgə dəfn olunmaqla, ona axirətdədə qulluq
etməli idi. Orta əsrlərdə atın sahibi ilə bərabər dəfn edilməsindən imtina edildi. Dəfn
olunan qəhrəmanın məzarı üstündə onun atının daş heykəlinin ucaldılması ənənəsi
yayıldı. Buna şərti olaraq, dəmir dövründən başlayan qədim ənənənin davamı demək olar.
Bununla belə, məzar üzərindəki at simvolik mənada - dəfn olunmuş qəhrəmanı axırət
dünyasına çatdıran əbədi nəqliyyat vasitəsi kimi dərk olunurdu.
Açar sözlər: At şəkilli məzar daşı, Azərbaycan, Kurqan, Azərbaycan folkloru, Axirət
dünyasına aparan mistik nəqliyyat vasitəsi.
Тельман Ибрагимов (Азербайджан)
ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЕ И СИМВОЛИЗМ НАДГРОБНЫХ ПАМЯТНИКОВ В
ВИДЕ КОНЯ В АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНЕ

В статье исследуется происхождение и символизм средневековых

надгробных памятников Азербайджана в виде каменных коней. Самые ранние
надгробные памятники в виде коня в Азербайджане датируются XV веком, но
символизм этих памятников имеет более древние корни. Самыми ранними
проявлениями этого символизма считаются курганные погребения знатных воинов
эпохи железа. В некоторых курганах обнаружены скелеты коня, захороненного
вместе с его хозяином. По вере древних предков азербайджанцев, конь должен был
служить своему хозяину и в загробной жизни. В средние века захоронение коня
было заменено установкой их каменных фигур над могилой усопшего героя.
Каменный конь символически должен был перенести своего усопшего хозяина в
мир иной и вечно служить ему там. Таким образом, можно сказать, что традиция
захоронения героя вместе со своим конем продолжалась и в эпоху средневековья.
Вместе с тем, каменный могильный конь символизировал мистический перенос
души своего хозяина в загробный мир.
Ключевые слова: Надгробный памятник, каменный конь, Азербайджан, Курган,
Азербайджанский фольклор, Мистический переносчик души